Many cultures have specific beliefs, formalities, and rituals associated with preparing a deceased body for burial or other final arrangements. Some cultures believe in embalming the body, placing the embalmed body into a sealed casket, and then burying the casket. Other cultures believe in cremation where the body is reduced to ashes and then placed in an urn or scattered in a natural setting.
Some cultures place special emphasis on certain parts of the body. The Hawaiian culture believes that, with respect to human remains, the iwi (bones) contain mana (spiritual energy) and must be prepared with the proper respect and dignity. Native Hawaiians have strong family values, responsibilities, and obligations. The family of the deceased has the kuleana (duty and responsibility) to take care of the person who has died and passed on to the next level. Depending on the position and occupation of the deceased in society, the bones are handled in different manners. In some cases, the body is buried wholly with the bones and flesh intact. In other cases, especially for those in a higher level of society, the flesh is removed from the bones and the bones are placed or buried in a huna (secret location). In earlier times, the body was arranged in a fetal or flexed position. At other times, the body was arranged in a fully extended position. If the deceased had been a fisherman, some families would utilize the femur bone to make fishhooks and perpetuate the mana of the fisherman to continue to provide food for the next generation. In any case, through respect and dignity for the dead, the bones must not be disturbed once placed to rest or come outside the control of the family. To disturb the bones would constitute desecration of the ancestral remains and disturbance to the living family.
For those cases where the flesh is to be removed from the bone prior to burial, the deceased is placed in an imu (underground oven). The oven is often a pit dug in the ground and lined with wood and stones. Before the body is placed in the oven, the wood is burned to heat the stones. A bed or layer of leaves is placed over the hot stones and the body is laid upon the bed of leaves. The body is covered with another layer of leaves to keep it clean. The body is cooked by the heated stones which softens the flesh over a period of time. After a day or so, the flesh is sufficiently soft that it can be removed or striped from the body by hand leaving the skeletal remains. By using this steaming process, the moisture and mana stays in the bones. It is then the prerogative of the family as to how to care for the iwi (bones) once the flesh was removed.